Back in Caracas

When I landed in Caracas, I was greeted by a bathroom that had toilet paper and soap! I was shocked and took that as a good sign. Unfortunately it wasn’t a sign for anything. My first week back was concerning. The grocery stores were pretty empty, like less than usual.  A lot of the shortages haven’t bothered me much because I don’t eat meat or cheese or use vegetable oil, flour, or sugar like most people. But the produce section barely had anything, there wasn’t any eggs, and even the dry rice and bean isle had empty shelves. Then our filtered water was not delivered like it usually is every Monday. All the locals claimed it was just because everything was closed for the holidays and so things were going to take a while to return back to “normal.” But then the lines started getting ridiculous. One day I tried to go to the grocery and the line was out the door and around the building because the store was so packed and there were police guarding the entrance. I couldn’t handle that so I waited until the next day to go and by then the  shelves were pretty bare. This same weekend the water in our building was shut off! So at that point I decided to “doomsday prep.” I bought a bunch of extra veggies and bread and canned food that I could freeze/ store incase the shortages continued.  I also filled some empty jugs with water. It seemed kind of silly, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Luckily, the water for our building was only out because of a broken water main on our street. And after two weeks, our filtered water was finally delivered. And the produce section at the store was restocked. But this is not to say that things are back to “normal.” Last week when I went to the store I was shocked that I didn’t have to wait in a long line (there’s always a long line even on “normal” days). As I was checking out though, something scarce was put out and people started yelling and running to the back of the store to get in line to claim whatever it was (probably milk or laundry detergent). Less than ten minutes later the store was a mad house with a line out the door again. I went to get my nails done at the salon across from the store and couldn’t believe all the people who continued to rush to the line.

The scarcity and the long lines have been all over the news. I was told it is now illegal to take pictures of the empty shelves or the lines and that if you are caught doing so you could be arrested.

Aside from the grocery issue, things still must go on as usual. Work has been very busy, but I am making an effort to do more things and be more social on the weekends. Last weekend one of the expat teachers had a house party that was a lot of fun. It was mostly teachers from our school and some other random people. But I had a good time and got to practice my spanish a lot. I was also lectured about how I need to be more shameless about speaking spanish. I know that it is important but it is hard for me to take the risk of being wrong or sounding stupid. However, I am trying to make a more conscious effort to be more “shameless.”

The Girls (and Jason)

Last weekend I also went on an adventure in the city with Walli (my 75 year old BFF). We successfully took a bus to the metro station and then took the metro to Parque del Este, a huge park near downtown Caracas. It was awesome. I was pleasantly surprised how well the park has been kept up. There was an amphitheatre where a free zumba class was taking place, there were impressive fountains, gardens, animal exhibits, and a ship. The best part of it was seeing all the people that were enjoying the day there. I know that life here can be difficult, especially for the locals, but it was reassuring to see people not standing in a long line, but relaxing and appreciating the day. The park is near a large grocery store, so it’s necessary that we went there to see if there was anything our store doesn’t have. Unfortunately there was nothing different there, except a WHOLE isle of ketchup. I almost took a picture of it, but I didn’t know if that’s allowed… So we made our way back home. The tricky part about getting home from downtown was finding the correct bus to get on. There is at least ten different buses at the station and we tried about six different ones until we found the correct line. Everyone kept telling us different things, but with our limited spanish we finally made it home feeling accomplished.

Since I’ve been back, I have also started taking private tennis lessons. My instructor, Leo, charges the equivalent of about $1 for an hour lesson on the tennis court at my apartment complex so I figured I might as well try it out. Plus it’s like an extra spanish lesson since he doesn’t speak english. It has been way harder than I expected, but also way more fun than I expected. So far, we mostly just do drills so I can learn the correct form and that involves A LOT of sprinting. But Leo says I am doing very well so that gives me hope. During my lesson this past week, there was an annoying noise of people banging on pots and pans. I was told this noise was constant during the protests last year and I found out that it was happening now because the president was talking that night. I thought it was significant that I finally heard it.

This past Friday, we had our VANAS conference which is a professional development for all the international school teachers in Venezuela. Somehow Walli convinced me to lead a workshop with her so we presented on the topic of Math Resources to Keep up with the Changing Times. I was really nervous considering this is my first year teaching math and I do not find myself qualified to give other people advice, but I think it went really well and it seemed like the audience thought it was useful. Luckily there were only about 20 people so it was good experience for me. The conference was held at the other international school in Caracas (the bigger one that has more students and a lot more money). After the conference was over there was a reception with live music and free booze. Everyone was taking advantage of the free drinks. After the supply ran out some of us went to happy hour at Terraza. I talked to some of the new teachers at the other school I interviewed at and it is so bad there that they are breaking their contracts early and leaving after this year. I guess the school is just unorganized and the location is in the middle of nowhere. I am so lucky I got the job I did it made me very thankful!

Dinner on the balcony at Coco Thai

Despite how much I wanted to sleep in after such a busy week, I got up early to go hiking on Saturday. We were doing a hike I had never done before so I knew I would regret it if I didn’t go. We took a taxi to the teleferico and got there super early. On our way there, we passed the longest grocery line I’ve seen yet. It was unbelievable. First we passed all the stopped cars lined up on the freeway that were just waiting to get into the parking lot; it could have been about a mile long. Then we saw the line of people that was outside the store and snaked around multiple times. I really couldn’t believe it. Our driver was trying to explain to us that it is a government store so the prices are fixed at a lower rate so a lot of people want to shop there. But even once they wait in line there is a limited number of items you can get and the supplies run out quickly. Also on our way, we saw all the military tanks and personnel posted out on the streets of downtown. There was a political march on Friday (for the government supporters) and one on Saturday (for the oppositionists) so I guess they were just being cautious. It was a little unsettling, but the good news is we saw them again on the way home and they were still standing there looking very bored. Hopefully it stays that way.

So we got to the teleferico about 45 minutes before it opened but there was already a line forming. So we waited patiently in line like everyone else until the gates opened 30 minutes late. Since we were in the front of the line we didn’t have to wait long to get in a cabin. We made it about half way up when suddenly we were in the clouds and you couldn’t see anything. It was so creepy! You couldn’t tell if we were moving or not and I was so uncomfortable. The usual 20 minute ride felt way longer! I was so relieved when we finally reached the top.

So eerie

I decided to use the restroom before we started our hike and there was toilet paper! It’s always a nice surprise. However, the toilets were not flushing so there was a barrel of water in the bathroom and after you used the toilet, you had to fill a jug will the barrel water and pour it into the toilet bowl. It was a slow process so there was a line (naturally) but it worked. Because of the clouds, you couldn’t see anything from the top of the mountain and it was cold and misty. I was suddenly wishing I was back in bed.

But we started our hike and things got better. I finally got my first sight of the Caribbean! And the clouds slowly moved away. We hiked to a place called Picacho, which is a big rock at the top of a mountain where you can see the city on one side and the ocean on the other. It was really cool, I hope to go back again when it isn’t so cloudy. It was a decent hike too.

At the peak, way up in the clouds

Beautiful trail

Horses in Galipan

Finally the clouds went away!

Caracas, such a big city

And today I relaxed by the pool for a few hours before doing my school work. I’m so happy that the weather is always warm here, I love it.

The Holidays

I got lucky again for Christmas because the Ohio weather was mild while I was home. It was so awesome to have the whole family together! That probably won’t happen again until next Christmas with me living abroad, Weston in the Marines, and now Maddi in the National Guard. The week was great. We played lots of games like always; Weston and Dad even played some!

Weston and I went out for drinks one night (our first time going out since he’s been 21!). By chance we knew the bartender and then some lady paid for all our drinks because of Weston being in the service. So we had to have Maddi pick us up around 3 AM. We did not hear the end of that story all week, especially because we were really hurting the next day. We will probably hear about that story every Christmas from now on…

On Christmas Eve, we went out to dinner, attended midnight mass, and had midnight breakfast like always. On Christmas day, we actually hosted the dinner at our house for the first time. It was nice not to have to go anywhere and the food was awesome as always.

The Hunters 

I got to see a handful of friends, which is always fun. Some of us went out to the Arena District on Friday but everything was dead. Even the piano bar was empty. I guess people were still doing holiday stuff.

After a relaxing week in Ohio I was off to Florida. It was a relief to return to warmer weather and the BEACH! Most of the week was spent catching up with friends, riding my bike, and buying stuff to take back.

So happy!

A friend hosted a New Years Eve party that was a lot of fun. They had live music and lots of good food and wine... Basically all of my favorite things so it was a fantastic way to bring in 2015. 

We got these glasses for free in Curacao so we 

figured we'd use them to celebrate a great 2014 :P

On New Years day, Lane and I went to St. Augustine and took a boat tour of the lights. I always love going to St. Auggie. But don't worry, we made sure we were back in time to watch the Buckeyes win the Sugar Bowl :)

Lots of lights

Unfortunately my three week break went all too quickly and I had to return to reality.

Curaçao

It seemed strange to me to have midterms end three days before Christmas break... The last few days of school were pretty worthless in my opinion (also too much group Feliz Navidad singing), and the students were nuts. We were ALL ready for a much deserved break.

Day 1
I left at 3 AM on Saturday morning to catch my flight to Curaçao. We only had to wait a little over an hour to check in at the airport and our flight was only an hour late, but otherwise everything went smoothly. The original plan was I was going to wait for Lane at the airport since he reserved the rental car. Unfortunately his flight got cancelled. Luckily he was able to get another one for later that night. So instead I took a cab to our place and spent the day exploring the neighborhood/pool. By the time Lane arrived, nothing was open so we had a clif bar and fritos for dinner along with our champagne toast provided by the hotel. We are just so fancy.

I enjoyed reading at the pool club. 

The neighborhood was pretty cool. It is slowly coming back, so many of the abandoned buildings are completely being redone and it is actually a really cute area. Lots of character.

Our abode where we stayed all week. 

Day 2

Unsuccessfully finding a place that served brunch we found ourselves at the Pirate Bay for a makeshift brunch. After refueling, we started our exploring! And my sandal broke so I was walking like a zombie for a while.

Outside of the Pirate Bay

The first beach, Caracasbaai

We stumbled on Fort Beekenburg, beautiful.

We watched the sunset over drinks at the Scuba Lounge.

We walked to downtown Willemstad hoping to find lots of dining options for dinner, but was surprised to find there wasn't that much. One restaurant right by the ferry must have really wanted some business because they offered to make me a special vegetarian meal. It was a vegetable curry dish and it might have been the best meal I had all week.

Yay tourists!

On the floating bridge

Following dinner we tried to have Sunday Funday by going to Mambo Beach. Sunny, the toothless guy who suckered me into buying a planter he made, recommended it when I asked where we could find some live music. Mambo Beach was definitely the place to be on a Sunday night but there wasn't any live music (just club style DJs) and the drinks were really expensive. We ended up bailing pretty early.

Day 3
Monday was completely a beach day! First we had to search some tourists shops for a road map because the car rental place was out of GPS devices and the car didn't even come with a map. Then we were off to the other side of the island. On our way to our first beach destination, we passed by a flamingo community! I was pretty excited.

Me posing like a flamingo, obviously

We spent most of the afternoon at Playa Porta Mari, where we had a great set up complete with lounge chairs, cooler, and umbrella. This was definitely one of my favorite beaches we visited. The water was very clear and there was a floating island that you can swim to.

Vacations are the best

Our clutch set up

I actually swam out to the floating island!

Later, we relocated to Daaiboooi Baai to try and catch the sunset, but we didn't stay there long because it was getting very buggy. Instead we went to the pool lounge to watch the sun go down.

Wandering goats on the side of the road

We climbed out to the end of the rock jetty to try and escape the bugs

Happy hour at St. Tropez Lounge

We finished the night by having dinner at Ginger's, which had a really great ambience, but I thought was food was mediocre for the price. 

Day 4

Tuesday was my planned activity. We took an ATV tour of the west side of the island. I thought it was great. We had a really nice guide and there were two other, older, German gentlemen with us on the tour. We road all over for about four hours. We got to drive straight up to the wind turbines, check out a blow hole, snorkel a little bit, see the flamingos, and other gorgeous sites all while getting a little bit of history about the island. Lane and I shared one ATV because I didn't really care to drive and it worked out well because I took all the pictures while he drove. 

                                    

Teamwork makes the dream work

 So many awesome pictures!

Having fun speeding down the road

We didn't have time to catch the sunset this day and opted for sushi at the Mambo Beach area for dinner.

Day 5

We explored downtown Willemstad during the day on Wednesday.  The location of our rental was almost perfect because we could walk to downtown, but we were close to some bars and restaurants in the Pietermai area. We went across the famous pontoon bridge, took postcard-like pictures of the colorful buildings, explored the floating market (all of the boats bring goods, mostly produce, from Venezuela to sell on the street), and the walked around the flea market. To be honest, I was surprised that there aren't very many restaurants or that much to do in downtown (that we saw anyway). There were cruise ships in the port nearly everyday, but I wonder what the people do all day.

Willemstad postcard picture taken by Lane

On the Queen Emma pontoon bridge

Since we quickly ran out of things to see downtown, we lounged at the pool for a little bit before getting ready for Lane's planned activity. We snagged one of the cool little cabana-cube things so we could lay out in the sun or the shade. Just writing about all of this makes me want to be back there!

Lane's activity was a sunset cruise, which I guessed correctly. While waiting for the captain of the catamaran to arrive, we saw a sea turtle in the marina!

I had a lot of fun on the boat ride. Alcoholic beverages and hors-d'oeurves were provided so it was a good time. First we rode around some of the mansions and private islands and then past a fort and then set up the sail and cruised back for the sunset. It was funny, as the sun was setting the crew put on romantic music and served champagne. Well, Lane spilled it all over my dress of course. We got off the boat feeling pretty good. We had to wait for the shuttle to take another group of people home first so we decided to get more drinks at the bar while we waited. Well the shuttle came back quickly and so the bar tender offered us "special cups" aka to-go cups for our beverages. I appreciated that.

        

Nice boat ride

            Perfect timing for a barge to pass by...

We got dropped off at a restaurant near our hotel called Mundo Bizzaro so we decided to have dinner there. I got a mushroom risotto dish and more drinks and it was great. After dinner we went to a bar and played some darts. I started off okay, but got progressively worse. In the middle of the second game, I quit so Lane couldn't beat me again and we called it a night.

Day 6

Thursday was another full beach day. I will never get sick of those. We spent most of the day at Grote Knip Beach which was beautifully blue and not very crowded. 

Me, never wanting to leave

Picture from in the water

After most of the day there, then we went to Playa Jeremi, which was a great choice. It was absolutely beautiful and we had the whole beach to ourselves to watch the sunset.

By the time the sun had gone down we were starving so we didn't even bother with showering, and we went to The Green Room mediterranean restaurant on the way home. We were looking rough and still in our bathing suits and the restaurant had a valet… You know, we like to keep it classy. It was so good. Then we got back to the hotel to realize we (...I) somehow lost the garage opener remote and the keys to our room. It was an $80 accident and so Lane wouldn't let me hold on to anything important the rest of the trip. 

Day 7

Friday was full of adventure. First we went to Shete Boka National Park, which I would highly recommend, it had some pretty neat sites. It started raining right when we got to the park but we didn't let that stop us, we just explored in our bathing suits. Of course as soon as we walked to the first site, the weather cleared up and everyone else was in normal clothes and looking at us funny. Just another example of us keeping it classy. This was followed up by us taking the little rental car through big mud puddles in the dirt road. 

Blow hole

Pretty rocks

Natural Bridge

Iguanas

The cave

Next we went to Playa Forti where the cliff jump is located. We couldn't find exactly where the jumping point was so we stopped inside this run down, half-house, half-restaurant, complete with chickens walking around, slanting into the ocean place. The food was truly authentic, the view was incredible and the beer was cold. We saw sea turtles and we found the jumping point on behind the patio. We weren't going to jump unless we saw someone else do it first though. By the time we finished lunch, we still hadn't seen anyone jump and were about to be disappointed. But then a guy just walked over and jumped without any hesitation. Then another guy went. Then Lane went. I was too afraid. Even after Lane said it wasn't bad. I was less afraid of jumping and more afraid of what might be in the water below and the swim back to shore. Maybe next time.

Paradise

After all of the exciting adventuring we went to Playa Lagun and took a nap. It was a small beach but there were a lot of people snorkeling so there must have been a lot to look at in the water. We went back to our hotel before sunset but we didn't have time to find a place to watch it, so we took our bottle of wine and watched the sun go down in an alley way… 

Then we freshened up and went to Tandori Heights, a really good indian restaurant, for dinner.

Day 8

Sadly, this was our last full day of vacation. We spent it lounging on the beach of course. Most of the day was at Playa Cas Abao which is another one of my most favorites. I think this is the beach where I spent the most time in the water. 

Gorgeous

Yay so clear!

Never. Want. To. Leave.

The last beach we went to was Bluebaai, which turned out to be a private beach that you had to pay $8 a person to use, so once we got there we actually just got drinks at the bar so we didn't have to pay since we were only staying a little bit. The hammocks would have been really awesome to use though.

We probably aren't fancy enough

Since it was our last night, this was our nice dinner date night. We watched the sunset and had authentic cuisine at the waterfront BijBlauw restaurant near our hotel. It was really nice. Funchi was the only vegetarian option; it is a corn meal dish but it was alright. The view (and the company) was the best part.

Being fancy like always

Our last sunset

The End

Sunday was a sad day. We packed up and left the hotel around noon and went to the Waterfront Terrace in Willemstad for lunch before returning our rental car and heading for the airport. 

The PICANTADOR

Lane and I got to fly together to Miami and we actually saw a really great sunset from the air. But then we departed ways so I could go home.  I couldn't have asked for a better vacation :)